Remembering Kurt Cobain: Famous Rolling Stone cover was taken in Kalamazoo

Courtesy of Rolling StoneThe cover of Rolling Stone on June 2, 1994. It was shot at the Park Trades Center in Kalamazoo on Oct. 27, 1993.

KALAMAZOO -- As many of you have probably read by now, this month marks the 15th anniversary of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot. His body was found on April 8, 1994.

In a special edition to remember his life and legacy, Rolling Stone put a close-up photo of Cobain staring at the camera on its June 4, 1994 cover. That photo, shown at right, was taken at the Park Trades Center in Kalamazoo on Oct. 27, 1993, according to Rolling Stone and Kalamazoo Gazette archives.

Nirvana was in Kalamazoo on Wednesday, Oct. 27, for a concert at Wings Stadium. Rolling Stone sent New York photographer Mark Seliger to photograph Nirvana the afternoon before the show. Seliger said Cobain was in a good mood during the photos, because he was excited for that night's concert featuring two of his favorite bands, the Meat Puppets and the Boredoms.

Continue reading by clicking the link below.

From former Gazette writer Marci Persky as it appeared on Oct. 29, 1993:

"If it smelled like dirty diapers at the Nirvana show at Wings Stadium Wednesday night, that's because Cobain baby Frances Bean is on the road with daddy while Courtney Love records a new album with Hole.

Nirvana did a Rolling Stone cover shoot at the Park Trades Center before the show. A photographer flew in from New York and shot off about 600 or so pictures for a future cover, including some with Claire Jordan Brooks of Kalamazoo.

The 4-month-old was recruited to fit in with the "In Utero" theme. She's in Kurt Cobain's arms for about 80 shots. To the relief of her mother, R.S. scrapped the idea of shaving the little one's head and also nixed painting all her nails red.

Oh, she was buck naked for all the shots. (Bets are she looked lots better in the buff than Blind Melon _ but didn't quite measure up to Janet Jackson.)

For her trouble, baby Claire was paid $100, given a snapshot of her with the band, and free tickets and backstage passes for her dad, Ed.

The date of the cover hasn't been announced yet nor is it known whether one of the shots including Claire will be chosen by R.S. editors in New York. But if it is, we can say we knew her when."

Here is the full text of the "Behind the Photo: Kurt Cobain" article from Sept. 20, 2004:

"On good days, Kurt was talkative and eager to play," says former Nirvana publicist Jim Merlis. "On bad days, no one could make you feel so uncomfortable without saying a word." October 27th, 1993, was a good day. Nirvana were in Kalamazoo, Michigan, ten days into a U.S. tour promoting In Utero, and Kurt Cobain was excited about that night's show; two of his favorite bands, the Meat Puppets and the Boredoms, were joining the bill.

And Cobain's daughter, one-year-old Frances Bean, was in the entourage. She had been shuttling between Nirvana gigs and a studio in Atlanta where her mother, Courtney Love, was recording Hole's Live Through This. "Just the sight of Frances could change his whole attitude," Merlis says of Cobain, who was in such a buoyant mood that afternoon he happily sailed through a long Rolling Stone cover session with Mark Seliger.

Seliger had already shot Cobain on a bad day, for a 1992 cover story about Nirvana's manic overnight stardom. "Kurt was very resistant," Seliger recalls. "He didn't want to be publicized. He didn't want anything but to be true to his fans and to the music." To emphasize his discontent, Cobain wore a T-shirt with the now-famous homemade inscription corporate magazines still suck. Twenty months later, in Kalamazoo, Cobain was ready to laugh at the irony of Nirvana's superstardom. "We arranged to have Brooks Brothers suits as a response to their success," says Seliger. "Kurt thought it was really funny. He loved it." Cobain also posed in a female cheerleader's outfit, complete with pompoms.

But before taking those photos, Seliger also quickly shot individual frames of each band member. And in this commanding close-up of Cobain's steady, wary gaze, he caught the insecurity, frustration and mistrust that still gnawed at the Nirvana frontman. Two days earlier, in Chicago, Cobain had spoken frankly of his teenage rock & roll dreams and his ongoing war with fame. "I never wanted to sing," he told Rolling Stone's David Fricke. "I just wanted to play rhythm guitar -- hide in the back and just play." But when the big time hit him, in the fall of 1991, he said, "It was so fast and explosive. I didn't know how to deal with it. If there was a Rock Star 101 course, I would have liked to take it. It might have helped me." Still, he insisted, life was good and getting better: "I just hope I don't become so blissful I become boring. I think I'll always be neurotic enough to do something weird."

Six months later, on April 8th, 1994, Cobain was found dead, from a self-inflicted gunshot, in a room above the garage at his Seattle home, and Seliger's portrait, first published with Fricke's interview, carried the weight of epitaph, on the cover of Rolling Stone's special issue commemorating Cobain's life, music and tragic death."

Here is the review of Nirvana's Wings Stadium concert:

NIRVANA FUELS A GENERATION AT WINGS

``Grunge'' is a marketing term, created for the punk bands which have become more acceptable in recent years than their abrasive predecessors.

Nirvana may be one of the pioneers of ``grunge,'' but fundamentally, it is a ``punk'' band.

Nirvana intruded upon Wings Stadium Wednesday night, giving the youth of the '90s a taste of what today's punk / grunge is all about.

More than 4,700 people, predominantly in their late teens to mid-20s, slammed, moshed, grooved and moved to a powerful selection of Nirvana's most succulent tunes, including bits from the ``Bleach'' album of 1989 and 1991's sonic-smash ``Nevermind'' as well as soon-to-be legendary hits from this year's ``In Utero'' release.

Led by singer / guitarist Kurt Cobain, Nirvana began its set at about 9:30 p.m., i'mmediately setting a chaotic pace that would continue for the next hour and a half.

With a rock-solid rhythm section of Krist Novoselic on bass guitar and hard-hitting Dave Grohl on drums, Cobain, as well as co-guitarist Pat Ruthensmear (neither guitarist could actually be labeled as ``lead'' or ``rhythm'') wailed through ``Grandma Take Me Home,'' ``Don't Send Me Back,'' ``Luthium,'' ``Polly,'' ``Rape Me'' and a slew of other well-known, as well as some obscure, numbers.

Fueled by MTV and over-active adrenal glands, the slam-dancing and body-surfing never let up, but neither did the energy level put forth by the band.

Even during the semi-acoustic songs, Captain Cobain and crew never let the intensity lessen, and though they are unquestionably super-stars of the world of rock, they didn't come across as pretentious jerks, or junkies, or mindless dolts (as the media might sometimes portray them). In fact, Nirvana seemed very human on stage, even standing next to the giant statues of the winged woman that appears on the cover of the ``In Utero'' album.

Yes, Nirvana is big, even huge, but the band represents the spirit of today's youth. Though obviously not perfect role models, they reflect the i'mage of strength and rebellion that fuels a generation.

After the band had ridden through its powerful and varied set (including the i'mplementation of an accordion, acoustic bass and acoustic guitar for a couple of songs), Kurt Cobain ended the evening's encore with the words of another rock leader, Ozzy Osbourne: ``I love you, all!'' and the crowd loved Nirvana.

The Boredoms, from Japan, began the evening's schedule with a noisy onslaught that wasn't entirely well-received, but was hardly boring. Next up, the Meat Puppets lets loose with its own brand of southwestern punkishness that the band has been working at since the early '80s. Though no Nirvana, the Meat Puppets kept the music flowing and the crowd enthused."